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Chapter Text

When the golden light dissipated around her, Donna found herself in what appeared to be some sort of science fiction exhibit, with dials and grating and levers. But it was all covered in dust, as if part of a museum that had long ago been abandoned, and they’d forgotten to knock down this section.

Except, there were empty take-out boxes all over the place, and a jacket draped across the seat. She narrowed her eyes, searching for an exit, and then stormed over to the door. Whoever had done this to her was going to pay.

Before Donna could open the door, it opened itself, and in the entry stood a blonde woman in a hoodie, chips in one hand, a key in the other, but the chips fell to the floor when the woman saw her.

“Who the hell are you?” Oh, the absolute nerve.

“Don’t play stupid,” her brain whirring to come up with a rational solution to this. “You kidnapped me!”

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows and pouted, obviously playing at being confused. “I did what, now?”

“Oh, I don’t have time for this.” She pushed past the other woman only to find herself… in a flat?

“I’m sorry,” said Donna’s kidnapper, “Did you break into my apartment in a wedding dress?”

But what she’d said hadn’t registered, as Donna looked back at where she came from only to see a blue box, not nearly large enough to contain the room in which she’d appeared. Yet, when she swung open the door again, it was the same room. She came back out and started circling the box, trying to figure out what sort of trick this was.

“Excuse me,” said the other woman. “But if you didn’t come through here, how’d you end up in the TARDIS?”

“I’m going mad!” said Donna, ignoring the woman. But then the blonde grabbed her arms, gentle but firm, and looked right into her eyes. “Get off me!” cried Donna, and tried to squirm away, but the woman held tight.

“Look, I have no idea what’s going on, and you clearly don’t either. How about we both take a deep breath and tell each other what we do know.”

There was something about the woman’s gaze that was calming, and Donna felt some of the tenseness leaving her body. “Alright then, why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll make us both a cuppa.”

When the woman let go of her, Donna let herself drop onto the sofa, but then she remembered something important, and stood straight back up. “I have to get back to the church,” she protested. “I’ll be late. I was walking down the aisle…”

“Wait, you were actually getting married?”

“What, you think I dress like this to go ten-pin bowling?”

“I don’t know, you’re the one who just appeared in my—“ The woman took a breath to calm herself. “I’m sorry. I’m being insensitive. Do you need to, uh,” she stumbled, seeming to struggle to figure out what one does in this sort of situation. You and me both girlie. “Call someone, or something? I can lend you my mobile.” The woman reached in her pocket and held out a phone.

Donna studied her, and for the first time, realized how young she looked. “Not a very smart kidnapper, are you?” she said, but took the phone.

The woman shrugged. “Guess I’m just new at this.”

Donna dialed up her mom, but it went right to voicemail. “Mum, get off the phone and listen. Oh my god, I don't even know where I am.”

“Peckham,” supplied the other woman helpfully.

“Peckham, then. Oh god, really?” She glanced back over at the woman. “Anyway, I'm going to get a cab, and I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't let the priest leave.” She paused for a moment. “Or Lance.”

She gave the phone back to the woman. “I hope you have money for a taxi, too.”

They would have died at the drilling site, at the not-hands of the Racnoss empress if it hadn’t been for the TARDIS appearing at an opportune moment, and the few driving lessons the Doctor had given Rose. She only knew how to get home and into the vortex, but when Rose tried for the latter, the TARDIS took them into space.

Rose had chased after Donna when she ran to the door, knowing first-hand the dangers of vortex exposure, but instead, there was only dust and rocks against a black sky. She frowned, walked over to the monitors, lit up for the first time in months. The screen showed the same view they’d had from the doorway, and unfamiliar script that Rose willed herself to understand, but no matter how she tried, the TARDIS did or could not translate.

“Why are we here?” murmured Rose, not really addressing anyone, but the ship responded with a beeping noise.

One of the monitors zoomed in on a shape approaching among the rocks. It was a seven pointed star, a spaceship.Then the image on the screen fast-forwarded as more and more rocks through the force of gravity were attracted to the ship. The monitor sped up time, and soon the rocks and the dust and the shape were a planet that was very very familiar.

“The Earth.” Something heavy sank in her chest. Her first trip with the Doctor had been to see its destruction, and now she was watching its conception, but alone.

She heard a quiet sob from behind her. No, not quite alone.

Donna stood leaning on the doorframe, and she moved over to her, put her arm around her. Today had been a trial for Rose, and she couldn’t imagine what it had been like for Donna.

“Lance was right,” she said. “We’re just tiny.”

Anger curled hot in Rose’s belly. “No, Lance was wrong.” Donna turned to her, surprised by the conviction in her voice. “Yeah, sure. the universe is enormous and chaotic and… beautiful.” Rose surprised herself with that. She’d forgotten how beautiful the universe was, felt only bitterness towards it from the moment it separated her from everyone she cared about. “But it’s only beautiful because we’re here, watching it. Otherwise, there’d be no point to it, yeah? We give meaning to the chaos.” It was something she’d heard the Doctor say before, and it was only now she felt she truly understood what he’d meant.

Donna bit her lip. “Where are we?”

“I think, I mean I’m pretty sure it’s the Earth, just as it’s coming together.”

Donna seemed to struggle with that answer, but after everything she’d seen that day, she didn’t question it. “So that means we came out of all this?”

“Yeah,” said Rose, and felt wonder blossom in her chest for the first time in a long time. “Yeah, we did.”

In all the commotion, after defeating the giant spider aliens and draining the Thames, Rose had almost forgotten it was Christmas. When they’d finally returned to the Powell Estate, and Rose went to pay for Donna’s cab home, the other woman patted the seat next to her. “Come on then. No one should be on their own for the holidays. Anyway, Mum always cooks enough for twenty.”

Rose was tempted to say no and spend the next couple days sulking and watching shitty rom-coms. She knew spending time with Donna’s family so soon after losing her own would hurt, but there was such compassion on Donna’s face that she couldn’t refuse.

“Might as well, I suppose,” she said. “I’m not half starved.”

Donna was right: her mother cooked an excessive amount of food. While Sylvia didn’t seem to necessarily approve of Rose, it was Christmas, and she was another mouth to feed. It did hurt, watching Donna with her family, even when they all bickered with each other. It hurt because it reminded her of last Christmas, with her mother and Mickey and the Doctor, but there was a bittersweet happiness that came along with that memory. Because despite everything, it had still happened, and no matter what had happened, or what would happen in the future, she would always have that memory.

There was a moment, when they were popping open the Christmas Crackers, that she got a bit overwhelmed and had to excuse herself and step outside.

Behind Donna’s house, there was a small hill with an amazing view of the night sky. She climbed up and gazed at the stars, wondering which ones she’d been to, and lamenting that she’d never add any more to that count. Rose didn’t know how long she’d been standing there when someone cleared their voice behind her. She started, but it was only Donna’s granddad, holding out a jacket.

“You’ve been out here for a while, love. Thought you might be cold.” She wasn’t, but she took the jacket anyway.

Wilf didn’t leave, just stood next to her in silence.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to your family?”

“They can survive a few minutes without tearing each other’s heads off. Though I could ask you the same.”

Rose didn’t have a reply for that.

Wilf shuffled a little bit where he was standing, and patted her shoulder. “Pardon my speaking plainly, but what are you doing out here, by yourself?”

“I needed a walk.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

This man didn’t owe Rose anything, yet he and his family had welcomed them into her home and fed her. The least she could give him was an explanation.

“I’m alone.” Her voice cracked a little, but Wilf didn’t move to comfort her, guessing correctly that she’d come out here needing space. But he also knew she needed someone to talk to. “All my family, everyone I loved. They’re gone. I lost them…” She tried to find a way to explain what had happened without explaining everything that had happened. God knows they’d be out here till New Years. “I lost them at Canary Wharf,” she decided on. “Been on my own since.”

“Well,” said Wilf after he was sure she was done talking. “You don’t have to be.” Rose turned to him, unshed tears in her eyes. “My granddaughter, I can tell she’s worried about you. Let us help you. We’ve got a spare bed and everything.”

It was a tempting thought, but Rose couldn’t take the idea of being a burden on top of her current pain. She shook her head. “No, I think I do. Have to be on my own, I mean. Just for a little while.”

“Alright then, how about a compromise: you come over once a week for dinner with us.” He grinned in a way that made Rose wish for the thousandth time her father was alive. “I insist.” He stuck his thumb back at the house, aglow with yellow light. “I’ll go mad listening to those two argue by myself.”

Rose laughed. “Alright then, you have yourself a deal.”

Wilf held out his hand, and they shook on it.

It was late when Rose returned home to her silent flat. The TARDIS stood where it had before, on the carpet in the living room. If only the Doctor were here, she could make a jab about precision parking and get to see that lovely sputtering look on his face. She sighed and put the leftovers Sylvia had made her take home into the fridge.

Rose changed into her pajamas and checked her phone. No new calls. The Doctor had left his jacket behind, and in the inter-dimensional pockets she’d found a good amount of money, but that, plus the minuscule amount left in her savings account, wouldn’t last forever. She needed to find work, and none of the places she’d applied to had responded back.

After a fruitless effort to fall asleep, she pushed herself out of bed and her feet took her, almost unconsciously, into the TARDIS.

She pulled the Doctor’s coat over her shoulders and sat on the jump-seat. Rose didn’t know why she spent so much time inside the ship, but for some reason, she found it comforting. Physically, in her mind, she almost felt like there was a warm presence. The Doctor had said the TARDIS was a living being, that it was telepathic. Maybe this was something to do with that.

Rose caught herself stroking a bit of the console, and then laughed, remembering how she and Sarah-Jane had made fun of the Doctor for doing the same. But really, she got it now, because the TARDIS was all she had. She couldn’t help loving it and hating it for that.

It was a bad habit, but once again since Canary Wharf, she felt herself drifting off on the jump-seat, beneath the Doctor’s coat, to the churning of the TARDIS. The TARDIS, who had saved her today and many times before.

Rose had been wrong before, talking to Wilf. She wasn’t alone. Not really.

Chapter Text

Rose woke up to a blinding white light and groaned. This was not the first time this had happened. Before, it had been her landlord, who’d come to clean out the place. Apparently, she’d given him quite the scare, what with her being legally dead. Since then, the TARDIS had taken to alerting her when she had visitors, which had been happening more often since Christmas.

It had been a few months now, and she’d made good on her promise to Wilf, but he and Donna tended to check up on her at least once a week anyway. The company was nice in that it distracted her. Distraction seemed to be all she could manage right now.

Bleary-eyed, Rose pulled the coat further around her while the TARDIS blinked its lights on and off again. “Alright alright I’m up.”

Banging on the front door to her flat was Shireen, who had come by a few times since learning Rose wasn’t dead. At the time, it had been what Rose needed. Shireen hadn’t asked questions, and comforted her the way they’d done each other in high school when one of them was getting over a breakup. But for the past few weeks, she’d been pestering Rose to go with her to bars or parties with mutual friends she hadn’t spoken to in years. Rose was running out of excuses of why she couldn’t go with her.

Shireen crossed her arms, and looked Rose up and down, clearly not impressed. “Were you sleeping? It’s like one in the afternoon.”

“So?” Rose didn’t try to argue. She knew without checking her friend was right, but didn’t take the time to analyze it. “Had a really late shift last night.”

Only partially true. It had taken only a week for her to lose the job she’d finally gotten at the shop down the way. Her supervisor hadn’t been too understanding of the mess she’d made chasing after an alien child who’d been snacking on stacks of discarded clothes and hiding in the discount racks. On the bright side, when she’d shown up at UNIT with the tot, they’d taken notice. After her experiences with the organization, she declined their career offer, but since then, she had taken on odd jobs with them to pay the rent. More distractions.

Shireen looked doubtful, but didn’t press. “Keisha is having a get-together tonight to celebrate her promotion, and we’re both going.”

“I can’t,” said Rose, knowing full well her protests were useless against the determined gleam in her friend’s eyes, but giving it a go anyway, mostly out of habit. “I have…” She tried to think of what she might have.

“Oh no, don’t give me that. Lately, you’re only ever working or locked up in that old box. Take a night off from being miserable, Rose.”

Rose huffed defeatedly. “Fine, have it your way. Just know I won’t be any fun at all.”

“I can’t believe you’ve stolen all my friends,” whispered Shireen. Her voice was humid and beer-sweaty.

Rose laughed with abandon. “Not my fault I’m so good at Pictionary.”

“Hey Keisha,” said someone. “Where’s your ma-an?” Cue drunken giggles.

Keisha wasn’t laughing. Her face turned dark. “Fuck if I know.”

“What happened?” Rose leaned closer, too curious and too drunk to try and look sympathetic.

Keisha scowled. “See that’s thing, we were doing great! Sure, we have our ups and downs, but so doesn’t every couple. But then, one night he gets knocked around a bit playing football and ends up with a concussion. He made me drive him to the hospital and everything. But what does he do to thank me?” She raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. “He hasn’t answered my calls since, hasn’t even sent me text to say he’s alright. Complete radio silence. Even went to his place to confront him, but his flatmates said they hadn’t seen him in days! Either he got them to lie for him, or he’s completely skipped town. Fucker.”

A chorus of comforting noises came from the group who were listening, but Rose frowned. “What was the hospital?” Shireen shot her a look, but Keisha just seemed confused at the question.

“What?”

“The hospital he went to for his head, before he disappeared.”

“What, are you some sort of PI, now?” asked Shireen. Kind of, thought Rose, but she just shook her head.

“Uh, I think it was Royal Hope,” said Keisha. “Near King's Cross.”

“Oh, yeah,” said someone. “My mum went there for knee surgery. The cafeteria food was rubbish. All they had for dessert was sugar-free cherry jello. Blech.”

Thus sparked a heated debate on gelatin-based food items, and almost everyone got distracted from Keisha’s boy problems, including Keisha.

Not Rose, though. The conversation had sobered her. Something about the whole story didn’t seem quite right. Rose mulled it over, and while half of her friends were chanting “Horse killers!” over the other half (how that argument had devolved), she started to formulate a plan.

Rose and Donna visited the hospital the next day. Donna was still in between jobs, and Rose could tell she was a little restless. It was something Rose could easily understand. Once you’d had a taste of the kind of life she led, it was hard to let it go.

They’d had a bit of a quarrel over who had to play the patient, Rose not wanting to be confined to a bed, and Donna refusing to be poked and prodded and forced into a hospital gown. Donna won out, of course. Over the past months, Rose had learned that it was near impossible to argue with the Noble women. Still, she glared at Donna over the shoulder of the nurse taking her blood pressure.

Donna had left her to see if she could find something about Keisha’s missing boyfriend in the medical records, but came back a few hours later with nothing but complaints about the hospital’s filing systems. She went home for the night, promising to come back after her job interview the next day. Rose was able to do some investigating of her own that night, and learned frustratingly little without being able to talk with fellow patients, who were sleeping.

As Rose predicted, the next day she was starting to get bored and a little fidgety. She’d finished the 34th century romance she’d found in the TARDIS library, and was about to try taking a nap when someone opened the curtain around her bed.

“Now then, Miss Tyler,” said the voice of a man she immediately knew she did not like, “a very good morning to you. How are you today?”

“Been better,” she replied truthfully.

“Rose Tyler, admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains. Jones, why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me.” Rose stifled the urge to roll her eyes.

One of the students approached her with a stethoscope. “Heartbeat sounds alright, then.” She looked up at Rose’s face and frowned. “Wait, haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”

Though she was pretty sure the woman wasn’t hitting on her, Rose hadn’t had any fun for almost twenty-four hours. “It’s possible. I do get around a lot,” she said, and sent her a sly wink that Jack Harkness would have been proud of.

Jones blushed, but shook her head. “No,” she said, a spark of recognition in her eyes. “You were at my graduation ceremony, with the professor who gave that weird speech. What was her name?”

“I’m sorry,” said Rose. “You must be mistaking me for someone else. I never went to university.”

Jones looked like she was about to protest, when the doctor interrupted their conversation. “As time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones.” Rose felt the impulse to stick out her tongue at him, but the other woman just smiled.

“Sorry. Right. Um, I don’t know. Stomach cramps?”

“That is a symptom, not a diagnosis. And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart.” As he reached down for it, though, he was given an electric shock.

“That happened to me this morning,” said Jones, and other students voiced their same experiences.

“That's only to be expected. There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by. Anyone?”

There was a long pause, and Rose decided to give the students a break from the man’s censure. “Ben Franklin, wasn’t it?” she asked.

“Correct,” said the man, but Rose wasn’t interested in impressing him.

“A bit rank, that bloke. I wanted to introduce him to some deodorant, but no-o, that would have caused a ‘breach in the space-time continuum.’ Meanwhile, he’s going out giving cell phones to Elvis, but you know men.”

“Quite,” said the doctor, who smiled uncomfortably. Inwardly Rose grinned.

“Then the idiot goes out and gets himself electrocuted!”

The man turned away, apparently done with her nonsense. “Moving on…”

Rose waved at Jones as she passed by, and the woman sent a hesitant smile her way.

A bit later, Donna came around soaked from the rain and holding a paper bag Rose hoped contained food (that bloke at the party had been right— the hospital food was disgusting). “Rose!” she said, bursting through the curtains. “Have you seen the rain?”

Rose reached for the paper bag, but Donna was gesturing wildly and it swung out of her reach. She pouted. “Yes, Donna, it’s pouring out. Now, if you could just hand me—“

“No, but that’s the thing. It’s only raining on the hospital. Everywhere else is dry.”

This caught Rose’s attention, and she stood up and ran past a disgruntled older gentleman arguing with a nurse, and over to the window. Of course, Rose didn’t know what she was thinking. She wouldn’t be able to tell if Donna was telling the truth from this vantage point. Donna was behind her and telling her so, when Rose noticed something else wrong with the rain.

“Donna—“ but then the floor beneath them started shaking and people starting screaming. Rose tried to stabilize herself against the windowsill, but she fell to the tile. She felt a bit guilty at the surge of excitement in her chest. Finally, something was happening.

Flabbergasted, Martha went to open the window.

“Don’t!” shouted Swales. “We'll lose all the air.”

“But they're not exactly air tight.” Martha argued. “If the air was going to get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So how come?”

There was a sound of a curtain swooshing open behind her. “Great question, hadn’t thought of that!” Martha started when she heard the voice behind her. It was the blonde woman from earlier— Rose Tyler, that was her name. Unlike the other patients, she seemed completely unfazed by their current circumstances, and had already changed into jeans and a hoodie. “Hey I know you. Dr. Jones, right?”

“Not quite. Got to pass my exams. I’m Martha.”

A red-haired woman ran up to them. “Rose, you’re gonna want to see this. There’s a spaceship.”

Swales let out a half-sob.

“Just a mo’ Donna.” Rose turned to Swales, who was still visibly freaking out. She took her hands and looked her in the eyes. “Hey, it’s okay. This sort of thing is bound to be a bit scary the first time. Just close your eyes for a second and breathe.” Swales followed her instructions. Martha gaped.

“Now you’re here to help people, right?” Swales nodded. “Well then, it seems like a lot of your patients could use some help right now. They need you to be strong. You think you can be strong?” The other woman set her face into a firm expression and nodded again. Rose grinned at her. “Brilliant.”

Rose turned back to Donna. “Alright, what did you want to show me? Fancy going out, Martha?”

Martha doubted it was possible for her to say no to this woman, at least at the moment. “Okay.”

Donna led them over to the balcony attached to the patient’s lounge. They opened the glass doors to stand outside, and all three of them took a breath at once.

“It’s bonkers, right?” said the Donna, “We’re on the moon.”

“We’ve got air,” said Martha. “How does that work?”

“No clue,” said Rose, grinning like a loon.

For the first time the reality of the situation seemed to set in. "I've got a party tonight. It's my brother's twenty first. My mother's going to be really, really..."

"You alright?" asked Donna. "I'm a bit new to this too. I know it can be a little overwhelming."

"I'm fine," said Martha, mostly honestly. 

"We can go back in if you'd like," offered Rose.

"No way. I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same, it's beautiful."

"First time I had this kind of view, it was the year 5 billion and the world was ending."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Even then, I couldn't look away."

Three enormous vessels that were undeniably spaceships landed in the distance. Donna pointed, distracting them from their conversation. "That's what I was talking about." A set of oddly familiar beings marched out of them. "Are those bloody rhinos?" 

"Aliens," gasped Martha. "Real, proper aliens."

"Wait, I think I know what these are," said Rose, squinting.

"Uh, yeah," said Donna. "They're rhinos! Space rhinos! On the moon! I'm going to commit myself."

"No," said Rose. "I don't remember their name, but they're some sort of police. This doesn't make any sense."

"That's the part you're stuck on?"

"C'mon," said Rose, grabbing both of their hands and pulling them back into the building. Martha could practically feel the excitement buzzing off her. "Let's go see what they're up to."

After cornering and restraining the first one, the three of them hid behind the water bubbler and watched as the remaining leather-man passed by.

“Seems like our friends like to travel in pairs,” said Rose.

And that was something Martha had meant to ask. She turned to the women. “Like the two of you?”

“Sorry, what?”

“What are you like, intergalactic crime-fighting partners or something?”

Donna and Rose looked at each other, as if they themselves didn’t know the answer to that question. “Something like that,” said Rose.

“The aliens are more her thing,” said Donna. “Been all over the place, this one. Though I swear to god she makes half of it up.” She whispered conspiratorially, just loud enough for Rose to hear.

Rose frowned. “Who sees alien spiders and the beginning of the Earth and still refuses to believe I met Queen Victoria?”

“Wait, excuse me?”

“Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked,” said Rose, as if she hadn’t just said something completely ludicrous. She stood up, and walked into the hall. “We’ve got a bloodthirsty, straw-wielding alien disguised as a middle aged woman to hunt down, before we all suffocate to death in a hospital on the moon.” Despite her words, it was unnatural how cheery she was about the whole situation. An idea struck Martha that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of before. She turned to Donna.

“Wait, is she alien?”

“Sometimes I wonder,” muttered Donna.

Rose turned around sharply. “I am not alien,” she said emphatically.

They turned the corner and ran into a Judoon, who promptly scanned Rose’s face. “Not human.”

“I knew it!”

Rose went pale. “What?!”

Donna grabbed both of them by their arms. “We’ve got to run. You can be surprised later when we’re not about to die!” She pulled them back around the corner, just before the Judoon shot their laser beams at them. Rose’s instincts kicked in, and she led the other two women into the stairwell and up.

Martha pressed her fingers softly to her lips. Rose had kissed her, long and hard, despite protesting that it meant nothing. That she wasn't sure it would even work, but that she just needed more time. That it was a trick she'd learned from some doctor. Her mouth had been soft and full against hers, and wow did that woman know what she was doing. Martha's heart stuttered.

"That was nothing?" she asked no one. 

Martha couldn't believe that after going to the moon, nearly dying, and performing CPR on a (gorgeous) not-human, that she still had to deal with her family's drama. It was ridiculous, she though, standing alone in the street after they had marched off. Her phone buzzed, and when she checked it, her breath caught in her throat. It was Rose. When had she put her number in Martha's contacts? She'd tried to look for her after she woke up from her unconsciousness, but she'd already gone.

Me and Donna are having a celebratory drink at my place. Join us?

Before she could even process what she'd read, she was texting her back. You bet

Brilliant! I'll send you the address

Martha smiled for real for the first time that night. Oh, this was going to be good.

Chapter Text

“Now, I’ve tried to be polite up till now,” said Martha. The three of them were on the couch watching (shouting at, in Donna’s case) the new X-Factor, sharing a blanket and a bottle of wine. A nearly empty bottle of wine. “And Lord knows I’ve seen weirder things today, but I’ve got to know— what’s with the police box?”

Donna and Rose sent each other significant looks. “Should we show her?” asked Donna.

“Now’s as good a time as any.” Rose jumped up and giggled a little when she nearly tripped. Donna rolled her eyes and followed her. The blonde went over to the blue box, pulled at the chain around her neck, revealing a key, which she used to unlock the door. Rose looked over her shoulder at Martha, still sitting on the couch. “Well, aren’t you coming?”

“Into the box?” Martha raised her eyebrows.

“Obviously,” said Donna.

Still skeptical, Martha rose and made her way over, but gasped when Rose opened the door for her. “No.”

“Yup.”

Martha took a step and craned her neck to look back around the outside of the box, and it was just a box, same as before. But inside…

“That’s impossible.”

“Probably.”

Finally, Martha stepped in, gravitated toward the center console, and turned back around to face the others, who had followed in after her. “They said. The Judoon. They said you weren’t human, and this ship, it’s got to be extraterrestrial. Is this, are you—“ She wasn’t quite sure exactly what she wanted to ask.

“This is the TARDIS,” said Rose. “It’s a ship. A spaceship, and a timeship.”

“Tell you what,” said Donna. “It looks a lot better than it did when I first saw it. Rose here’s a bit of a slob, let me help her pick it up.”

“More like you came crashing in while I was asleep and whacked me with a broom!”

“I’m sorry,” Martha interrupted. “Space is one thing. Aliens are a fact of life now. Hell, I’ve been on the moon. But you can’t expect me to believe it travels in time. That you… you travel in time.”

Rose gave her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Well, I don’t anymore. Used to, but then I lost the pilot. That’s actually part of the reason I asked you over.” Donna swatted her. “Why we asked you over, I mean.”

“Me? What on Earth do you expect me to do? I’m no engineer. And I only just graduated university!”

“Yeah, but the thing is the TARDIS isn’t a machine,” said Rose, patting one of the coral struts. “Or it isn’t just a machine. It’s a living being.” She looked back up at Martha, something intense and timeless and almost golden in her eyes. “And you’re a doctor.”

“For humans! Not even! This is completely different. No, this is too far out of the realm of normality to even be called different. This is—“ The machine churned softly beneath her feet. This was crazy.

“You think we know what we’re doing?” said Donna, who had migrated over to the seat, still working on her third glass of Merlot. “Since you met us this morning, have either of us done anything to give off the slightest impression we have any bloody clue?”

Rose looked like she was trying not to laugh, and put her hands on her hips. “What Donna means is, we could use all the help we can get, and some expertise is better than where we are right now, which is basically zero.” She gave Martha a hopeful half-smile. “I’ve been lots of places. Met so many different people, aliens and robots and scientists, but after today, I’d rather have you on my side and no closer to flying this thing than some super-genius with a door in his head.”

“With a—“

“Help us?” she asked.

And there was really only one answer to that, wasn’t there? Since Martha was a kid, the world had been governed by rules and the ability to understand and work around them. She wanted to be a doctor because she wanted to help people, but also because she wanted to learn what made them tick. The more she knew about the world, the more it made sense. The more questions she asked, the more answers there were. Except now, she was faced by something governed not by the rules she knew, but by something entirely different. The impossible had come knocking on her door, and it had invited her to tea.

“Okay,” Martha let out in a single breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. “I’ll help you.” And that was that.

Martha was the first to wake the next morning. It looked like she’d passed out last night sitting upright, and there was Donna sprawled out across from her, one of her legs on Martha’s lap and the other dangling off the couch. Rose was nowhere in sight.

The telly was still on, showing reruns of old Doc Martin episodes. Martha moved Donna’s leg over and stood up, despite her entire body waging a protest. Rose’s kitchen wasn’t in the best of order, but Martha was able to navigate it enough to fix herself some tea. She went back into the living room and switched the channel over to the morning news. God, it was ten o’clock. She hadn’t slept in this late since she was an undergrad.

The news anchors were going on about the upcoming race for prime minister before transitioning over to talking about an event that was happening that night. Martha didn’t catch the details, distracted by a familiar face on screen.

Donna groaned when Martha shoved at her. “Donna, wake up! My sister’s on the telly!”

The other woman flopped over and covered her head in a pillow. “Good for bloody her.”

“That’s got to be her boss. What’s he going on about?” she wondered aloud. Tish didn’t really talk about her work all that much, just that she was in PR and her boss was kind of a creep.

“The details are top secret…” he droned. “Tonight, I will demonstrate a device which will redefine our world.” Probably some sort of hand cream , thought Martha, and was about to change the channel when he continued. “With the push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human.” Okay, well that sounded a bit more ominous.

“Would you turn that down?” shouted Donna at the same time Rose came through the doors of the TARDIS, bleary-eyed, with a coat draped around her shoulders. Had she slept in there?

Martha gestured at her. “Rose, you’re gonna want to see this. Looks like something right up your alley.”

Donna groaned. “Oh what’s the use?” She got up and waddled over to the kitchen, but not before she smacked Martha in the head with the pillow.

Neither of them payed attention. Rose watched the end of the news report, mouth in the shape of a frown, but her eyes flashing. Without looking away from the screen, she said: “Fancy playing dress-up, girls?

There was something about the gala that made Rose uneasy. It was too similar to alternate Jackie’s birthday party, and not just because it was black-tie. She felt something heavy in her chest as she thought of the parallel universe, and everything associated with it. She quickly pushed aside as Martha beckoned them over to where she was talking with her sister. They were here on a mission.

“These are my friends, Rose Tyler and Donna Noble.”

Rose gave a little wave, but Tish frowned. “How’d they get in, they weren’t on the list.”

Oh shit. The way Rose had gotten in was she had fished the psychic paper out of the Doctor’s coat pocket. Of course, the name that had appeared for the bouncer was not Rose Tyler, but someone who was actually invited. Rose shifted on her feet.

“Uhh,” said Martha. “See, Donna’s my plus one,” (that much was true) “and Rose—“

Rose jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Miss Tyler is my assistant,” said a feminine voice from behind her. She turned to see a woman with a mane of dark blonde curls and an elegant gown that made Rose feel childish in her cocktail dress. The new arrival sent Rose a covert wink.

Before Rose could say anything, Tish was all over the woman. “Oh Doctor Song! We are so glad you could make it. Tonight will truly be a night scientific community will never forget.” Rose had so many questions, but couldn’t voice them without blowing her cover. Donna raised her eyebrows at her, but she just gave her a shrug in response.

“I’ve no doubt about that,” said the woman.

They were interrupted by the sound of an older man (Tish’s boss, Rose presumed) tapping on his glass to get the attention of the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle. It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Thinks he’s so impressive, doesn’t he,” she muttered. The woman behind her laughed.

“Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever.” As the man walked into the chamber on stage, Rose felt the hand on her shoulder tense.

She wasn’t nearly as surprised as she should have been when the machine went into overdrive and alarms began to sound. What she was surprised by was the woman behind her, who vaulted forward before Rose could even think to take action. Rose chased after her, and she was followed right behind by Donna and Martha.

“Can you fix it?” she yelled over to the woman, who was trying buttons and switches that didn’t seem to be doing anything.

“Already have, so I’ve got to.”

“You know, that’s not really an answer.”

“As much as I love your cheek, Rose, there’ll be time for it later.”

A shrill voice called from the audience. “Somebody stop them. Get her away from those controls!”

“What, you want the building to blow up?” shouted Donna.

Then Rose noticed something. A thick black power cord. She looked over to the woman who was still trying all of the dials on the panel, and Rose shook her head. Academic types were all the same. She yanked out the cord, everything went quiet, and the contraption came to a grinding halt.

The woman looked up over the controls at her with a baffled expression. Rose waved the power cord at her with a shit-eating grin. “There time for cheek now?”

Apparently not, as Martha managed to get the door to the chamber open, and out stumbled a young man, who then turned to the audience with a triumphant expression. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old and I am reborn!”

Oh, this was definitely not good.

Oh, this was very early for her, wasn’t it?

River examined Rose as they waited for the results of Lazarus’ DNA analysis. (God, twenty-first century technology was so slow.) Martha and Donna had gone after Lazarus, so it was just the two of them. The other woman refused to look at her, just focusing on the computer, fluorescent light glinting harshly back off of her hair. She knew the woman didn’t trust her yet, and she didn’t blame her, but it still hurt.

“You were very clever back there. This isn’t the first time you’ve done this sort of thing, is it?”

Rose narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

“I told you before. I’m Dr River Song. I’m the head of the physical sciences department at the university.”

“No, but really?”

River bit her lip. It was always difficult to know how much to reveal, what would disrupt the time-stream. She was saved from answering when the computer gave a pathetic little beep. Finally, the results were in. She ignored Rose’s question and turned to the screen. Huh. “That’s odd.”

“What is it?” asked Rose.

“It just changed.”

“But it’s DNA. Isn’t that impossible?”

“You would think.”

“What does it mean, though?”

“If it had gone right, it wouldn’t still be mutating. Something in his DNA’s been activated, and now it’s trying to change him.”

“Change him into what?”

At that moment, there was a loud buzzing noise and both of them jumped. “Just my mobile,” Rose mumbled as she pulled out the phone and checked her texts. Her frown deepened. “That’s Martha. She says there’s trouble and to come up quick.”

“Right then, lead the way.”

After the four found the corpse in the office, they knew they had to find Lazarus. Their resolve grew when they found off he’d gone off with Martha’s sister. As they made their way to the roof, his voice became audible. “I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you. Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act—“

“Falls the shadow.” Everyone looked at her, agape. “What?” asked Donna. “You think just because I’m a temp, I don’t know my Eliot? That’s prejudice, that is.”

Tish broke the silence: “Martha, what are you doing here?”

Clearly overcome with fear for her sister (and perhaps a little bit of annoyance), Martha moved imperceptibly forward and said, “Tish, get away from him.”

“What? Don’t tell me what to do.”

Bewildered by this response, very obvious only child Rose countered, “But she’s just trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting.” Not knowing what to say to that and feeling, perhaps, that she was getting a dose of her own medicine, Rose stepped down.

“Is this the company you keep, Dr. Song?” asked Lazarus with a snide expression. “Thought you’d be above this juvenile nonsense. Don’t you have better people with whom to spend your time?” His tone held a certain suggestion that no one else on the roof liked remotely. “After all, you have so little of it.”

River snorted. “You very clearly know nothing about my life.”

“Untrue. I know you’re an accomplished woman. Four doctorates. That’s awfully impressive for someone your age.”

She smirked. “Not particularly.”

He continued on as though she had said nothing. “And that’s just in your one lifetime. Imagine what you might be able to do in two or three or four.”

“Um, yeah. Pretty sure that’s not how that works,” said Rose.

Lazarus raised his eyebrows. “And who might you be?”

“Hi, I’m Rose Tyler!” She waved and smiled brightly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her voice went flat. “And you’re a freak of nature.”

“An extremely primitive view of human achievement, but I really couldn’t expect that such a sophisticated and nuanced idea would go over very well with the common people. But Dr. Song—”

But Rose interrupted him. “Human achievement? No, I’ve seen that, and it doesn’t come out of people like you. I’ve been there for the greatest acts of courage and strength, and you know what? They’re extremely common, because humans are fantastic just as they are.” She stepped forward, something furious and almost golden in her eyes, and not just Lazarus took a step back. “But this, what you’re doing, it’s one of the most selfish and cowardly acts I’ve ever witnessed.”

“Rose,” called Martha.

“Some people,” she choked up a bit here. “Would give everything they have just for a normal human lifespan, for what you had . You’re despicable.”

“Rose!”

In her blind fury, she hadn’t noticed Lazarus spasming, but then he fell to the ground and began to transform. Martha came forward and grabbed Rose by the crook of her arm.

“Run!” shouted River.

“I’ve got to go back.”

“You can't! You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you.”

“I don't care. I have to go.”

“It's those women, isn't it? That's what's happened to you. That's why you've changed.”

“Rose was buying us time, Martha. Time for you to get out, too.”

“I’m not leaving her.”

“Martha!”

They found Lazarus in the cathedral, naked and shivering beneath a red blanket. “I came here before,” he said. “A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child, the sound of planes and bombs outside.”

“The Blitz,” Martha realized.

”You've read about it.”

“I was there,” offered Rose.

“Do not mock me, girl. You're too young.”

“So are you, mate.”

He laughed and shuddered, his body making unnatural cracking sounds.

“In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive. I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenseless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it.”

Rose approached slowly sat down next to Lazarus, despite the protests of her friends. “You know, back when I was in the blitz? Right in the middle of it, literally,” hanging from a blimp with a Union Jack across her chest. “There was a boy, very young, no chance to live at all, and he was being kept alive, but at a terrible price. He wasn’t himself anymore, not really, and all it did was hurt the people around him. What about you? What about all the people you’ve hurt? Killed?”

“They were nothing,” said Lazarus. “I changed the course of history.”

“So?” asked Donna.

His face was overcome by a confused and somewhat indignant expression. “What do you mean, so? I’ve performed the impossible. I’m more than now than what I was. More than just an ordinary human.”

“And what’s so wrong with being ordinary?” Donna asked.

Before he could answer, Lazarus convulsed again.

Martha stepped forward and put a hand on Rose’s shoulder. “He’s going to change any minute. What are we going to do?”

Rose bit her lip and looked to River, who was staring up into the rafters, her expression thoughtful. “If we can get him up into the bell tower, I’ve got a theory we could try out.”

“Oh, you’ve got a theory?” whispered Donna harshly. “Thank the lord! We’re bloody saved!”

“Women,” said Lazarus, as he seemed to settle down. “You’re so sentimental. Logic governs the universe, and logic is how it will be conquered.”

River barked out a laugh. “Yeah, and you look like such a glorious conqueror. Let me tell you something,” she said. “The more I learn about the universe, and I know quite a bit about the universe, the less logical it reveals itself to be. But there are a couple of things that ring true despite the chaos.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, do tell.”

“One, the longer you go on, the more you’re bound to lose.”

“That’s a price worth paying.”

“Two,” she continued, as if he hadn’t spoken, and an amusement gleamed in her eyes. “There’s no winning an argument against Rose Tyler.”

“No one can stop me.”

“Yes, that is certainly a misconception you are under.”

“I will feed soon.”

Rose jumped to her feet. “Yeah, you hungry Lazarus?”

River’s eyes widened. “No, Rose! You can’t die. Not here.” But it was too late, as Lazarus lunged after her, and Rose ran, followed shortly behind by Martha and Donna.

“I think if there’s one lesson we’ve learned here, Dr Song,” shouted Rose as she ascended, her voice echoing through the cathedral, “is that some things are more important than living forever.”

“River,” cried Martha. “The tower!”

“Right,” muttered River under her breath, as she ran over to the organ. “If this timeline doesn’t implode, the Doctor’s going to kill me.”

The timeline did not, in fact, implode, and with a clever bit of sonic manipulation, they managed to defeat the creature that once was Richard Lazarus. Hoping to avoid complications, they decided to let the police deal with the clean-up and fled the cathedral. Rose was still teeming with adrenaline from the chase and then hanging off the ledge of the staircase, but after the past two days, Martha and Donna were exhausted.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to sleep for the next hundred years. Nobody wake me, or you’ll end up looking like Lady Thaw. Goodnight, everyone.” She paused and turned to Rose. “See you on Sunday.” With that, Donna went up to the road to hail a cab.

“I better go check on my family. They’re probably worried about me,” said Martha with a reluctant smile. “Actually, my mum’s probably having a right fit about now.”

“Oh, okay, then,” said Rose, brought down a bit from her high at the mention of hysterical mothers. There would be no one at home to be worried about her. She made sure to keep her face cheerful, though. “You better not make yourself a stranger. You were brilliant tonight, Martha. We would have been lost without you.”

Martha grinned and left.

“Are you not tired as well, Rose?” Oh, right. For a moment, Rose had forgotten about the woman who had saved all of their lives.

She shrugged. “Nah. Guess I’m used to this sort of thing.”

“Hmm,” said River, but spoke no more on it.

They stood in silence a moment, and then Rose took a deep breath and let it out. “Right then, here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to go back to my flat. I’m going to change out of these clothes, and then you are going to explain everything.”

“Interesting idea. Counteroffer: I give you this,” she handed her a small brown package tied up with string. “Which is really what I came here for. Didn’t mean to get caught up in all of this, but what can you do?” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Then, I leave and get back to my very important work, and I’ll be seeing you,” she poked her on the nose, “later.”

Rose scowled. “I thought nobody wins an argument with Rose Tyler.”

“Let’s not argue then.” With that, she looked down to her wrist, and before Rose could process what she saw, River activated her vortex manipulator and vanished.

“Damn it.” Things were just starting to get interesting, too. But then she remembered the package in her hand. She sat on a bench beneath a streetlight, and carefully peeled back the brown paper and gasped.

It was a book. She could have guessed that by the size and weight, but it wasn’t just any book. It was her name she first noticed, and puzzled over, but that surprise was forgotten when her eyes traveled up to the title.

TARDIS Type Forty Instruction Manual: 13th Edition